Going Underground

Way back in 2002 I started what was going to be my magnum opus. Moore Street was to be a South London 4 track main line on viaduct, complete with a fully working tube station. The underground was to be a set of 3 separate boards that would bolt on to the underside of the main layout.
Sadly the main layout never got past the construction of the first couple of baseboards due to far too many house moves. I did however get the tube station partially finished. Since the move to the UK and the shelving of Moore Street due to lack of space, the 3 boards that make up the underground have been sitting, shrinkwrapped and unused. One day I will revive it but for now here is a peek at what had been done.



The tunnel walls are formed of split sections of 4" diameter pvc pipe. The track is hand built using C&L Finescale with brass section for the centre rail supports, and Peco insulators. Lighting is from Miller Engineering. The tiling and other decoration was hand drawn in Photoshop with the addition of maps and adverts. You can't see it in this image but the tube map actually does contain 'Moore Street'. Its on the Northern Line between Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway. The actual artwork was produced in 16mm scale and reduced before printing to give a 4mm scale wall.

Ballast

Its become a running gag with some of us that just about every article in every publication contains a paragraph about how the author put down his track ballast. Even if the article isn't about track or a layout, it will have a paragraph devoted to the fine art of ballasting. Everyone of these says basically the same thing, 'ballast was sprinkled and brushed onto the track, then glued down with a mixture of water, pva, and a drop of washing up liquid." I don't think there is a modeller on the planet that hasn't chanted that mantra in their sleep at some point.

Just to be contrary, my technique is a bit different. Ballast is a mixture of different shades of Woodland Scenics fine. Normally used for N gauge track. Once its in place I mist the track with isopropyl. This has the advantage of 'wetting' the ballast but without the side effect of bubbles that can occur when using washing up liquid. I use diluted carpenter's glue instead of PVA as it removes the tendency of pva to colour the ballast with a greenish tinge. The green tinge is great if you are modelling northern Montana where the ballast is either green or red depending on the quarry it came from, not so good for the UK. I also colour the water that I use with a couple of drops of India Ink before adding the glue. This adds shadows to the ballast while not killing off the colour variations that occur naturally.

The picture shows what it looks like after the glue has dried but before the excess has been hoovered up. mmm, looks like the rails need a touchup.

One step forward?

One of the things about modelling is we tend to get into the habit of doing the same techniques for things. Take scenery for example. My tried and trusted method was to form styrofoam to the required contours, roll on a layer of dry mod-roc and then brush it down with a wet paint brush. I then followed this up with a thin layer of plaster mixed with Woodland Scenics pigment to prevent chips showing through as bright white. Grass has been represented with the once common dyed surgical lint glued fuzzy side down and ripped up to give a fine grassy effect.

This is what the colliery board looked like on June 9 2006. Am I the only one that is this messy during construction?

The same area 2 days later, after being ballasted, styrofoamed, plastered, and treated to a top dressing of surgical lint. For some reason it never satisfied me. I left the scenery for a while and caught up on some other projects.

Then, a couple of months ago I started to experiment with Silflor mats. I've now replaced half the original lint with Silflor mats. As you can see the difference is amazing. The field in the foreground looks far better in my opinion. Time to save my pennies for a few more rolls.

Joe Fugate's scenery clinic is an excellent resource. While its American based most of the techniques and concepts are applicable to the UK.
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=73c541519c3440173bb8ce50aa8de57d&t=2385

Bluebell 125

For those of you that forgot the link to my Bluebell pics.

http://andrewsrailphotos.fotopic.net/c1395828.html

Edit: updated 25/10/07. Had to recreate my fotopic collections. New URL.

Mobile test

Just playing with my mobile

Promises, Promises

To the couple of you that actually read my dribblings, an apology for letting things slip for the past 7 weeks. Work, life, holidays, yadda yadda yadda.

Seriously, things have been manic in my little corner of SE12 lately. The modelling is at a standstill thanks to our lease not being renewed and all of the carnage that moving preparations tend to inflict on one's spare time. Now things have settled to a dull roar and the move has now been pushed back until next spring I make these promises.

1: I promise to update my ramblings on a regular basis.
2: I promise to take some up to date photos of the layout progress. I now have a decent digital.
3: Lastly to Mr. Exhibition Manager, I promise I will have this thing ready for the June Show, Honest.

Here is the state of progress on the layout.

Boards and trackbed complete
track down and test run
wiring complete with point position feedback, complete
Signalling panel (PanelPro) complete and fully working
Scenery on the colliery board, about 50% complete
Ballasting 25%. Complete with diluted PVA and a drop of washing up liquid.